JBU goes small to defeat Pioneers

Thomas Galliguez sparked a JBU run on Saturday afternoon after knocking down consecutive buckets in the second half against Wayland Baptist.

Siloam Springs, Ark. (February 20, 2010) - Although the men’s basketball team battled foul trouble and had to play a smaller lineup at times, they still managed to fly by Wayland Baptist (Texas) 69-56 on Saturday afternoon in Murray Sells.

Coleson Rakestraw, Andrius Mikutis, and Abel Galliguez each finished with 12 points leading the offensive effort for JBU.

Bobby Watkins led WBU (10-15, 6-14) with 15 points and four rebounds.

In the first half, both JBU starting post players Davaughn Jackson and Sam Bartlett got into foul trouble and had to sit midway through the first half. JBU found themselves down seven (16-23) with nine minutes left, but the Golden Eagles began to use their speed to their advantage. After a 9-2 run, JBU tied things up at 25 with most of their buckets coming in transition. JBU took a slight three point lead in the next two minutes before WBU’s Emmanuel Brown made it 28 a piece with 3:43 left. In the final few minutes JBU used a 12-4 run to take a 40-32 halftime lead.

In the second half, WBU opened up with a 12-3 run to take a 44-43 lead with 12:43 left. JBU regrouped after a few free-throws from WBU and went back ahead by three after a layup from Adrian Miller and consecutive buckets from Thomas Galliguez. From this point, JBU never looked behind and continued to build on their margin and led by as many as 16 before taking home the 13 point win.

For the game, JBU shot 49.1% from the floor while giving up 45.2% to WBU. JBU outrebounded WBU 29-23, and forced 13 turnovers while committing only 11.

Now 20-8 overall and 12-8 in conference play, JBU travels to Oklahoma Christian on Thursday for an 8 p.m. bout.